Magazine-type socket wrench



July 28, 1959 J. A. w. MADSEN MAGAZINE-TYPE SOCKET WRENCH Filed March 17, 1958 MW NN Nm ww Q mu \wAIT m M \\\\\\\q I Q INVENTOR. ens fire] W Marleen Kaitlin/ 19W, M 192 5 rnez s uly 2 1 J. A. w. MADSEN 2,896,489

MAGAZINE-TYPE. SOCKET WRENCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fig, Z

Filed March 17, 1958 INVENTOR. finsflxel WMdd6il m fiu awily m flliorneys United States Patent MAGAZINE-TYPE SOCKET WRENCH J ens Axel W. Madsen, Sioux City, Iowa, assignor to Albertson & Company, -Ine., Sioux City, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application March 17, 1958, Serial No. 722,084

3 Claims. (Cl. 81--124.1)

This invention relates to magazine-type socket wrenches, that is, to socket wrenches wherein the socket is elongated to function as a magazine in which a plurality of nuts may be stored as they are removed from their respective studs or bolts. More specifically, this invention relates to magazine-type socket wrenches which are particularly designed to be driven by portable, reversible, power-operated impact tools so that the combination of impact tool and magazine-type wrench may be used either to remove a plurality of nuts from, or to thread a succession of nuts upon, a plurality of studs or bolts. For purposes of illustration this invention will be described with reference to its application to a tool for rapidly loosening and removing the nuts from and threading and tightening the nuts upon, the studs which hold a vehicle wheel upon its hub.

A general object of this invention is the provision of a magazine-type socket wrench in which the withdrawal of nuts from the magazine thereof during the operation of threading and tightening them upon studs or bolts is more perfectly under the control of the operator than has heretofore been possible.

More specifically, an object of this invention is to provide a magazine-type socket wrench which, at least.

to a limited extent, is independent of the length of the protruding end of the stud or bolt upon which nuts from the magazine of the wrench are to be threaded and tightened, thereby eliminating the possibility of threading two nuts upon the same stud or bolt.

As a further object, this invention has within its purview the provision of a magazine-type socket wrench in which provision is made for storing nuts out of reach of the longest stud which is expected to be encountered, with means, under the control of the operator, for releasing one nut at a time from the stored group of nuts to an intermediate portion in the magazine wherein the released nut can be reached by the said stud.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a magazine-type socket wrench for nuts or like threaded and in the other of which but one fastener is held in readiness to be applied to its mating fastener, with means under the control of the operator for releasing one fastener at a time from the storage chamber into the holding chamber.

Additional objects include the provision of an improved magazine-type wrench which requires no geared orother positively rotated drive to feed nuts from the magazine to the studs to which the nuts are to be applied, thereby resulting in a simpler, lighter and lessexpensive wrench; of a gun-type wrench and powerdriven impact tool having a manually operated release mechanism for controlling the release of nuts, one at a time, from a magazine incorporated in the wrench wherein the operation of the release mechanism does not require that the operator change his grip on the wrench in passing from the nut-applying operation to the nutreleasing operation; and of a magazine-type socket wrench attachment to an electrically or pneumatically driven impact tool which attachment is rugged, easy to use, and which may be used generally on all threaded fasteners including tapered or regular nuts, hexagonal cap screws and the like with equal facility.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the wrench of the present invention shown applied to an impact-type motor-driven tool, the. latter being shown in dot-dash lines;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the wrench;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the wrench of Fig. 2 looking toward the right in that figure;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the wrench taken in the direction of the arrows at line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the wrench looking toward the left in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 shows the left portion of the sectional view of Fig. 2 and the relationship of the parts of the wrench thereat when the wrench is applied to a nut mounted on a long stud for the purpose of removing the nut;

Fig. 7 shows the relationship of the parts of the wrench immediately after the nut is removed from the stud and the stud and wrench remain telescoped over the stud;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 after the wrench is removed from the Wheel hub;

Fig. 9 shows the wrench of Fig. 6 with additional nuts stored therein;

Fig. 10 shows the wrench of Fig. 6 after one nut of a stored group has been threaded on a stud; and

Fig. 11 illustrates the relationship of the parts of the wrench of Fig. 6 while a nut is being released from a stored group of nuts into position for application to a stud.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed descrip tion of the form of the invention illustrated therein attention is directed particularly to Fig. 1, wherein the wrench of the present invention is shown in its entirety at 12 connected to a driving tool shown in dot-dash outline at 14. Said driving tool 14 is shown as a power-operated impact wrench of known design, but it may take any desired form, either power or hand operated without departing from the scope of this invention. The out-put element of the tool 14 may take the form of a drive shaft 16 which is polygonally shaped and is received in a similarly shaped socket 18 (Figs. 2 and 5) formed in what may be termed hereinafter as the rear end of wrench 12. The opposite or front end of the wrench, referred to generally at 60, is the nut-engaging end of the wrench and has an opening therein of a size and configuration to receive a nut in nonrotative relation thereto, said opening continuing rearwardly into the wrench to form a magazine socket 22 into which the nuts are fed and stored in a stacked, aligned relation. The details of construction of the socket wrench, sometimes also referred to as an accumulator wrench, are shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive.

. For purposes of illustration the novel wrench will be described with reference to its use as a tool for removing, storing and reapplying the nuts of an automobile wheel hub. With modification only as to size it is understood that the wrench can also be used in other repetitive disassembly and assembly operations involving fasteners whether nuts or bolts, having polygonal exterior surfaces by which the fastener may be manipulated and turned.

The wrench 12 includes a main body 24 of tubular construction, having preferably a cylindrical outer surface, the interior of the tubular body which forms the magazine socket 22 being of polygonal shape in cross section, matching the hexagonal cross section of the automobile wheel. nut with which it is intended to be used. The bore or magazine socket 22 extends from the front end of the body to a point, near the rear end, where it connects with a counterbore 2.6 in which is mounted a socket fitting 28. Said fitting 28 is made fast. inv the counterbore by an appropriate known expedient such as by a press. fit or brazing. The aforementioned socket 18 is formed by an axial bore of a cross-sectional configuration to receive with an axially slidable, rotary driving fit the end of shaft 16. The surfaces of socket 1.8 are formed with depressionsor recesses 39 the purpose of which is to receive releasably corresponding detents in drive shaft 16 such as are commonly used in socket wrenches to hold two separable driving elements thereof together.

Adverting. momentarily to Fig. there is shown a typical example of the repetitive, nut-removing, storing and -reapplying operation to which the wrench of this invention is particularly well suited. Thus there are shown in'Fig. 10 fragments of a wheel hub 99, and a wheel body 92 held firmly against hub 90 by a plurality of nuts one of which 94 is shown threaded on a stud S8 nonrotatably secured to the hub 90 and extending through an aligned opening 89 in wheel body 92. Said opening 89 is slightly larger than the diameter of stud 88 and nuts 94 have tapered ends 93 which serve to locate the openings 89, and consequently wheel body 92, accurately on hub 90. It is customary to provide five such studs 88 and nuts 94 per wheel, and to change a wheel therefore means that five nuts must be removed, stored and reapplied. Itrnay be readily apparent that in an automobile repair shop or service station a magazinetype wrench in which nuts may be stored in readiness to be reapplied to the studs of a wheel is particularly useful.

Wrench 12 has been particularly designed to accommodate nuts 94, both as to size and configuration of cross section, and has been further designed to be independent of the length of the stud usually encountered in automobile wheels. Thus according to this invention, magazine socket 22 in which nuts 94 are received is divided into two chambers 21 and 23 (Fig. 2) by a series of circumferentially spaced detents 46. Chamber 21 may be termed a holding chamber in which nuts to be applied to studs are held, one at a time, within reach of such studs. Chamber 23 is a storage chamber in which a number of nuts may be held in stacked relation, but out of the reach of the longest stud it is expected to encounter. Manually controlled means, to be hereinafter described in detail, are provided for releasing one not at a time from storage chamber 23 into the holding chamber 21 as the nuts in the holding chamber. are removed therefrom. V

Returning now to Fig. 2, nuts in storage chamber 23 are continuously Lu'ged toward holding chamber 21 by an elongated helical spring 36 which bears at one end against a washer 32 and at its other end surrounds the reduced-diameter rear portion 49 of a plunger 38 which is longer than the solid height of the springto prevent damage to the latter when the socket is full and the plunger is backed against washer 32. The forward portion 42 of the plunger is enlarged to be received with a sliding fit in socket 22 and to form a step 41 against which the'forward end of spring 36 bears. The forward end of spring 36 surrounding the rear of plunger 38 serves as a guide for the plunger to keep the plunger axially aligned with socket 22.

Forward portion 42 of plunger 38 is limited in its outward movement by the aforesaid detents 46, which may be three in number and disposed in alternate ones of the six surfaces defining the walls of socket 22. Each detent 46 is comprised of a ball received in a radially disposed opening 56 in the forward part 60 of wrench body 24, the inner end 57 of opening 56 being reduced in diameter sufiiciently to prevent the ball detent 46 from passing into the socket 22, but large enough to permit the ball detent 46 to protrude radially inwardly into the path of movement of plunger 42, and also, as will be described hereinafter, into the path of movement of nuts 94. Movement radially outwardly of opening 56 is controlled by a cam 64 of conico-frustrum contour formed on the inside of front region 66 of a sleeve 58 disposed on the exterior of body 24 and axially slidable thereon. The diameter of detent 46 is greater than the radial thickness of forward part 60 of the wrench body 24 to such an extent that when the detent is in its innermost position as determined by its contact with thewalls of the reduced inner end 57 of the opening 56, the detent protrudes outwardly of the exterior surface 59 of the wrench body and into the path of movement of sleeve 58, thereby forming a forward stop for the axial movement of the sleeve.

Said sleeve 58 is continuously urged forwardly by a helical spring 72 retained in a counterbore 68 inthe sleeve and bearing at its forward end against the bottom 70 of the counterbore. The opposite end of spring 72'- abuts against a back-up ring 74 which is held against rearward movement by a snap ring 76 disposed in an appropriate peripheral groove in body 24. Spring 72 isin compression between ring 74 and bottom 70 of counterbore 68 and serves to maintain an axial force against the protruding ball detents 46, which force is converted in part by the cam 64 into an inward radial force on the detents 46 tending to hold them in their innermost positions, that is, in the positions in which they protrude into the path of movement of the nuts or the plunger as the case may be. Although a force on detents 46 in the opposite direction is produced by spring 36 and plunger 38, it is contemplated that the inward force produced by spring 72 and cam 64 in sleeve 58 will be greater than the maximum outward force produced by spring 36 and plunger 38 when spring 36 is compressed to its minimum, dimension by a full stack of nuts stored in chamber 23.

Sleeve 58 may be moved backwardly to allow progressively larger diameters of the frusto-conical cam surface 64 to be contacted by ball detents 46 and there by to allow the balls to move radially outwardly in their openings 56 until the inner regions of the balls no longer protrude into socket 23. When the balls are so moved, nuts may pass freely between holding chamber 21 and storage chamber 23. The backward movement ofsleeve 58 is eifected by the operator either directly by pulling the sleeve backward, the outer surface of sleeve 58 being suitably roughened as for example by the formation of peripheral grooves 80 therein to provide a firm grip; or indirectly when the operator forcibly holds the wrench against wheel body 92 while a nut 94 is being moved into storage chamber 23 by another nutbeing removed from a stud 88. In the latter case the ball detent 46 pushesagainst cam surface 64 and forces it back against spring 72 until the nut is free to pass the detent.

It is contemplated that when sleeve 58 is movedback to its limiting position in that direction the front region 66 of the sleeve will still overlie the ball detents toinsure their retention in their respective openings 56; It is also contemplated that to facilitate manufacture and assembly of the wrench, the front part 60 in'which' the holding chamber 21 is formed, including detents "46' will be made as a separate part which is united with the main body of the wrench by welding or otherwise, the

rear portion 81 being telescoped over thevfront portion of said main body to insure accurate alignment and centering of the two parts.

Nuts are kept from falling out of holdingchamber 21 by a second series of ball detents 44 disposed in;

56 a distance sufficient to hold one nut 94 (Fig: 8-).

Openings 48 are reduced in diameter at their inner ends.

49 to prevent the ball detents from passing to the interior of the wrench but allowing the detents to protrude into socket 22 into the path of movement of nuts in said socket. Ball detents 44 are of sufficiently large diameter to protrude outwardly of part 60 of the wrench body into a peripheral groove 51 defined by spaced beads 54. A spring clip 50 is disposed in said groove and may be formed with openings 52 of smaller diameter than detents 44 into which said detents project. By contact with the inner edges of openings 52, detents 44 are resiliently biased inwardly of openings 48 into the path of movement of nuts 94.

Inasmuch as the wrench must be held in position by the operator while it is rotating, a grip in the form of a sleeve 82 is provided around body 24, the ends of said sleeve being secured by a press fit, pins, or otherwise to rings 84 rotatably mounted on body 24. Snap rings 85, 86 on body 24 hold rings 84 against endwise movement on wrench body 24, and a grease fitting 87 provides communication to the space 91 and laterally to rings 84 for lubricant.

It may be recalled that sleeve 58 may be manipulated directly by the operator. Since one hand of the operator will be occupied in holding the driving tool 14, and since his other hand will be occupied in holding grip sleeve 82, it is desirable therefore that the forward end of sleeve 82 be located in proximityto sleeve 58 so that by merely extending his fingers, without removing his hand from grip sleeve 82 he can reach forward, grasp sleeve58 and pull it back to remove the force of spring 72 from ball detents 46 and thereby permit free passage of nuts between chambers 21 and 23.

Reference is now made to Figs. 6 to 11, inclusive, in connection with the following description of the operation of the wrench in removing a nut from a stud, storing a plurality of nuts in chamber 22, holding a nut in chamber 21 and in threading the nut onto the stud. The illustrations have to do primarily with the operation of the wrench in connection with nuts used on a relatively long stud, which is shown in full lines, but the operation of the wrench in connection with a relatively short stud may be readily visualized by reference to the outline of a short stud superimposed upon the long stud in dotted lines.

The long stud referred to above is indicated at 88 and is here illustrated by way. of example in connection with the aforesaid automobile wheel 92 although, as pointed out above, the invention is not so limited. In Fig. 6 it is assumed that there are no nuts in socket 22, i.e., both holding chamber 21 and storage chamber 23 are empty.

To remove a nut such as 94, the wrench is telescoped over the nut to a position preferably in engagement with the rim wheel 92, which relation aids in supporting the wrench in the removing operation. Telescoping the wrench over the nut 94 moves the detent balls 44 outwardly against the compressing action of the spring clip 50. The position of the follower plunger 38 is incidental, in this step in the operation, and normally it may be located rearwardly of the detent balls 46 when the wrench is empty and held against forward movement by those detent balls, but instead of being in this position, it may have been released by the operator to a position between the two series of detent balls. In the first position (in which it is located rearwardly of the detent balls) it remains in such position while the wrench is telescoped over the nut, and is not disturbed by stud 88 because the stud is not long enough to engage the plunger. However, if the plunger should be located between the two series of detent balls, it will be engaged by the stud and will simply be moved rearwardly thereby, the detent balls 46 being moved outwardly and moving the collar 58 rearwardly to its position in Fig. 7 as aforesaid.

After the wrench is telescoped over a nut as shown in Fig. 6, the wrench is rotated in the appropriate direction for removing the nut off the stud to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 7 (the storage chamber 23). The movement of the nut rearwardly results in a movement of the detent balls 46 outwardly as the nut passes from the holding chamber 21 to the storage chamber 23. The outward movement of the balls produces a camming action on the cam surface 64, and the collar 58 is moved rearwardly in retracting direction against the action of the spring 72.

It may be noted from Fig. 10 that there is a space 97 between a nut 94 in the storage chamber 23 and the end 98 of long stud 88. Obviously the nut cannot be propelled backward across this space into storage chamber 23 by relative movement with stud 88 since it is off the thread at the time. It nevertheless does move across this space because the ball detents 46 are at this point contacting the tapered end 93 of nut 94 and simply earn the nut backward into storage chamber 23. I As for the situation with respect to the shorter stud shown in dotted outline at 96, the nut does not move back far enough to allow the detents to contact its tapered end 93 and hence, as soon as the wrench is moved back bodily, plunger 38 pushes the nut forward into holding chamber 21 as shown in Fig. 8.

As the wrench is applied to the next nut the nut then in holding chamber 21 is pushed back by the oncoming nut during the movement of the wrench thereover, the force required to effect this action being derived directly from the operator. Upon rotation of the wrench again in a nut-removing direction, the oncoming nut will be moved back along the stud and will force the last nut into storage chamber 23, the oncoming nut, when removed from the stud then moving forward into the storage chamber 21 as the wrench is withdrawn from the stud. As each successive nut is removed from the stud it is forced into the socket in the same manner described above and as represented in Fig. 9. The nuts in storage chamber 23 form a stack, the rear or inner one of which engages the plunger 38 and moves it rearwardly, and the front or outer one of which is disposed in the holding chamber 21 between the two series of ball detents 44 and 46.

The nuts are moved into the wrench in an automatic manner, i.e., the collar 58 need not be manually manipulated, but it is automatically retracted by the action of the nuts in moving rearwardly past the ball detents 46, as explained above. However, when moving the nuts in the opposite direction, e.g., when threading the nuts from storage chamber into the holding chamber, collar 58 is manually manipulated and assures the movement of one nut at a time out of the wrench by holding the stored nuts out of reach of the stud until manually released. The steps followed in threading the nuts onto the short studs are therefore essentially those described above in removing the nuts from the studs, together with appropriate manipulation of the collar 58.

Considering now in detail the sequence of operation of the wrench and its components when the nuts are to be reapplied to studs, the wrench as a first step is manually telescoped over the stud, preferably to a position in which the wrench contacts the wheel 92. and the stud engages the nut in the holding chamber 21 of the wrench. The slight taper at the end of the stud assists in causing the stud to enter or lead into the nut. The nut in the holding chamber, as well as the stack of nuts and the plunger in the storage chamber, are moved rearwardly by such engagement by the stud, from the position shown in Fig. 9 to that shown in Fig. 7. The wrench is then rotated for threading the nut onto the stud until the nut is in the tightened position shown in Fig. 10. As the outer nut thus is threaded onto the stud, it is pulled away from the position shown in Fig. 7 past the ball detents 46, enabling the latter to move inwardly under the camming action of the sleeve 58 and spring 72. The .inward movement of ball detents 46 projects them into the path of movement of the next nut in the stack to engage'and hold' the said next. nut away from the stud and'thus to prevent it from being threaded onto the stud. The spacing between the next nut and the end of the stud'is illustrated in Fig. 10. The distance from the nut receiving end of the wrench to ball detents 46 is selected in accordance with the maximum length of stud which is likely to be encountered. It will be understood that although a nut in holding chamber 21 is held against movement outwardly of the socket 22 by bail detents 44, the holding force of the detents is readily overcome by the nut as it is being threaded onto the stud, the detents 44 being forced outwardly by the nut as it advances alongthe stud outwardly.

After the nut is threaded ontothe stud as indicated-in Fig. 10, the wrench is removed therefrom. All of the nuts remaining in the wrench are now located in the storage chamber 23 rearwardly of the detent balls 46. To release them successively and individually the operator merely pulls the collar 58 to the right as viewed in Fig. 11 to the position there shown. In this position the cam surface 64 is drawn backward to present a re-' gion thereon of greater diameter to'the balls and the latter are thereby enabled to be moved outwardly by the next nut. As said next nut is propelled past detents 46 by spring 36 and the intervening plunger 38 and stored nuts, it moves up to, the holding chamber 21 between the two series of ball detents as indicated in Fig. 9. This completes the cycle and the steps are then repeated as desired.

It may be understood that it is not. necessary either. to fill or empty the wrench completely before it is ready to reverse its function. The direction of rotation of the Wrench may be. reversed at any time, and within the limits of the capacity of socket 22, and nuts may be added to or removed from a. stack of nuts in storage chamber 23.

The steps of removing nuts from and applying them. to the short studs 96 are precisely the same as those described above in connection with the long stud, and hence it is believed sufiicient to say that the length of the stud (within limits) is rendered immaterial by the fact that amplespace 97 is provided between the longest stud for which the wrench is designed and the nearest. nut in the stored stackof nuts.-

I claim I 1. A magazine-type socket wrench comprising a body having at one end thereof an elongated recess adapted to receive a plurality of fasteners, resiliently held means on the body dividing the recess intoa storage chamber and a positioning. chamber, said positioning chamber being disposed at the outer end of the recessand being of an axiallength greater than the axial length of one fastener but less than the axial length of two fasteners, and means urging a fastener from the storage chamber to the positioning chamber, said dividing means being removable to permit fasteners to move from one chamher to the other, and said resiliently held dividing means including a detent extending into the path of a fastener as the latter moves in the recess from one chamberto the other, a spring on the wrench, and cam means interposed between the spring and detent and constructed to transmit the force of the spring to the detent, said spring force as transmitted through the cam being greater than the force of the means urging a fastener from the storage chamber to the positioning chamber, and means operable from the exterior of the wrench for movingv the cam against the force of the spring to remove the spring force from the detent.

2. A magazine-type socket wrench comprising a body having at one end thereof an elongated recess adapted to receive a plurality of fasteners, resiliently held means on the body dividing the recess into a storage chamber and a positioning chamber, said positioning chamber being disposed at the outer end of the recess and being of an axial length greater than'the axial length of'one fastener but less than the axial length of two fasteners,

and means urging a fastener from the storage chamber to they positioning chamber, said dividing means being removableto, permit fasteners to move from one. chamber to the other, said resiliently held dividing means including a detent extending into the path ofa fastener as the latter moves in the recess from one chamber to the other, a spring on the wrench, a sleeve having a cam contacting the detent and urged by the spring in a direction to move the detent into the path of a fastener as aforesaid, said spring force as transmitted through the cam to the detent being greater than the force of the meansurging a fastener from the storage chamber to the positioning chamber, said sleeve being slidable relative to the wrench body from the exterior thereof for moving the cam against the force of the spring to remove the spring force from the detent.

3. A magazine-type socket wrench comprising a body having means at one end for receiving a driving shaft of a power tool, said body having a magazine socket open: ing through the opposite end thereof for receiving nuts, spring means in said socket biasing nuts therein toward the. open end thereof, detent means in the wall'of said body positioned a predetermined; distance from the open end of the magazine socket and movable into and out of an-inner position in which it projects into the path of an outermost nut therein, said detent means also being projectable to the exterior of said body, and means on the exterior of the body normally retaining said detent means in said inner position, said retaining means being manually releasable for enabling said detent means to be moved out of said inner position by an outermost nut in the magazine socket under the action of said spring means, said detent means comprising at least one ball, said means for retaining the detent means in its inner position comprising a cam and spring, means wherein said spring means biases the cam into engagement with the balls, and said cam comprising a collar having a generally inwardly facing conical surface engagingsaid ball when said ball is retained in said inner position,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,901,436 Coates Mar. 14, 1933 2,412,275 Klopovic Dec. 10, 1946 2,420,741 Eriksson- May 20, 1947 2,770,157 Moreo Nov. 13, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 402,949 Italy Mar. 30, 1943 581,943 Great Britain Oct. 30, 1946 714,510 France Sept. 17, 1931 

